Busy Bags

Well what do you know, last week it was pouring rain and this week it is scorching (and I mean scorching) hot! The poor weather last week forced us inside so we decided to work on some "busy bags". As usual I found a ton of inspiration on pinterest and got to work on a few different ideas. We are working on learning colours and numbers the last little while so I decided to base my "busy bags" on those concepts.  

The first busy bag I made was rainbow pompom magnets. There is 1 red magnet 2 orange magnets 3 yellow magnets... Im sure you can finish the sequence. This will allow us to work with colors AND numbers!

The next busy bag is a number match game with ladybugs and leaves. Each ladybug has a number of dots on its back between 1 and 5. Each leaf has the number 1 through 5 written on it. The idea is to count the lady bugs dots and match it with the correct number on the leaf.

We made a few busy bags that contain busy boards, basically felt boards with felt pieces that stick to them.Our  first busy board is a pizza with numerous toppings in varied colors. The next busy board is a fish tank with different underwater animals and plants. 

We added another bag to our collection, this one containing home-made slime. Our nanny made this with Al one day and he just loves it! Great for exploring textures, plus its cheap and homemade.

And along with our slime we made rainbow rice for more color and texture play!

Lastly we made a pompom pipecleaner press to work on fine motor skills. Al loves to push all the pom poms and pipe cleaners into the different sized holes and then dump them all out again. Perfect for the toddler that loves to pack and dump!

We have a few more busy bags to finish up but for now we are enjoying the nice weather outside. I think our busy bags will come in handy for all the trips we are about to be taking too! They are quick and easy and definitely keep Al entertained!

Threading the coloured noodles onto pipe cleaners 

Hide and Seek Bag

Rock Monster eye counting

Bean Sorting

Eat Clean Train Mean

Baby Ashe is 8 weeks old this Thursday and it's time to get back on track. I have 11 pounds of "baby weight" to shed ASAP. In order to do so, priority number one is getting back to clean eating. This includes healthy choices, portion control and food prep.  The next focus is fitness. Back to running, lifting weights and being active! I always love getting back at it. I am getting more sleep now that Ashe is going longer over night so I am ready to get active! 

My new meal plans look like this:

Breakfast

Oatmeal with berries and chia seeds

coffee with sweetener and almond milk

Snack 1

apple, 1 light baby bell cheese, small bag of mixed nuts 

Lunch

2 egg white muffin tin omelettes with turkey bacon, peppers, tomato and cheese, side of cucumber and avocado 

Snack 2

two rice cakes with almond butter

Dinner

chicken stir fry with peppers, zucchini, broccoli, onion, carrots. 

brown rice 

Post Workout

Protein shake with greek yogurt, frozen berries, banana, spinach, flaxseed, unsweetened almond milk, ice, 1 scoop of whey protein.

Some recipes for other healthy snacks

Protein Cookies

1 1/2 – 2 cups of Oats
2 Ripe Bananas
1 cup of All Natural Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/3 cup of Unsweetened Dried Cranberries
(Or any other kinds of dried fruit.. Raisins, Cranberries, Dates, Goji Berries, etc.) 
2 tsp of Cinnamon2 or 3 Egg Whites
5 tbsp of Protein Powder
1 cup of sweetener 
Step One: In a large bowl, mash up your Bananas – preferably no lumps.
Step Two: Mix in the Apple Sauce. Then add your Egg Whites. Mix well.
Step Three: Add in your Cinnamon, Protein Powder, and Dried Cranberries.
Step Four: Preheat Oven to 350°
Step Five: Spoon mixture onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Step Six: Bake 12-18 minutes

Banana Chocolate Protein Bars
Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup oat flour
1/3 cup protein powder 
1 T chia seeds (optional)
1 t cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
3 egg whites
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 T smooth natural peanut butter (or almond butter)
1/2 T honey
5 drops of liquid stevia (or 1 T more of honey)
1 t vanilla
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a bowl combine all dry ingredients: oats, oat flour, protein powder, chia seeds, cinnamon, and salt.
In a large bowl combine all wet ingredients: bananas, egg whites, almond milk, peanut butter, honey, liquid stevia, and vanilla.
Slowly pour and stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is well mixed, then gently stir in the carob chips.
Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 5 in. or 8 x 8 in. baking dish.
Bake for 15-20 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 15-20 minutes.
Cut into 8 squares and enjoy.

Family of Four

Well it has been 6 weeks since Ashes arrival and things are going very well. The transition from one to two children was MUCH easier for me than the transition from zero to one. Al has adjusted quite nicely to life as a big brother and we are settling into routine. That's not to say we haven't had our moments. Al being the age he is,  is prone to the odd temper tantrum and that is only amplified by his extreme personality and the big change going on in the house. Like any other stage or phase we've encountered with him, we've handled it with firm limits and boundaries and lots of consistency. Rules are rules are rules. I know a lot of Moms in my immediate social circle are starting to experience the change we have just gone through and there is a lot of anxiety about how the big sibling will handle it all. I didn't get too carried away with prepping Al for it and I only did minimal reading on the topic but I did find a few things helped when it was actually time.

1. I tried to make sure Al got a few minutes of undivided attention from me intermittently through out the day. This is important not only to help with feelings of jealousy but also because of his age. He needs the one on one time. There is a lot of focus on new baby from the family and visitors so it is important that he still gets his focus and attention as well. It can be hard to put baby down and make that time initially but it is very important.

2. Routine. I am a huge advocate of routine so this one was a no brainer for me. Things in his world needed to stay as routine as possible to eliminate the upsets of "change". He is used to things a certain way so keeping them as consistent as possible helps him adjust. This includes boundaries. He definitely tried to push the limits and test new boundaries because of all the change, but staying as consistant with rules, punishments etc helps him to understand that the same behaviour is expected of him as always. 

3. Trying not to blame baby or cause fear or resentment of baby. We did this by allowing Al to show his affection and curiosity towards Ashe. I tried not to hover over him as he gave his brother hugs and kisses or touched his face and so on. There are definitely times where I have to intervene in his "affection" but for the most part I try to allow him to interact with baby as much as possible and not to be scared of getting in trouble or having a parent tell him to leave baby alone. I want him to interact with his brother so a bit of careful but relaxed supervision is key. I am convinced that is why god made Ashe so much bigger, to withstand some of the so called affection from his brother. The other thing is that I try not to blame baby for things, such as "we have to leave now because baby has to eat" or "please be quiet baby is sleeping". I read this causes resentment towards baby so changing your language or not blaming baby helps to develop more of a fondness toward the sibling. Who knows if that is actually true but worth a shot. 

Those were the only big things I tried to remember when dealing with the big change of one child to two. I think every family will have a different experience and every child will react differently but it will and does get easier. Take it a day at a time, and just spend time with the kids. Dont worry about the house and dishes and laundry. Relax and enjoy and soon everyone will be adjusted to the knew dynamic. I hope that helps any mamas about to go through the big family change!

Little Brother

Introducing 

Ashe Monthomery Stein

April 11, 2013

1:20 pm

8 lbs 9 oz

21 inches

Waiting

Well I have technically and officially never been this pregnant before. Two days shy of 39 weeks that is. Because I had Al early I was thinking I would have #2 around the same time. But I guess I thought wrong. So now we wait. For a Type A, planner and organizer, like myself, this is driving me crazy. I will admit that I like to have control of most (if not all) situations. So when God hands me things that I have no ability to influence it is a deep personal challenge/struggle. I have had everything ready for months as that seems to help me feel better about the "unknown". So I have nothing left to prepare. (Literally, "the easter bunny" filled all the eggs with treats this morning and the basket has been ready for weeks). The bags are packed and in my truck, everything and anything is washed and put away and the nursery has been finished for weeks. I am taking the opportunity to enjoy playtime with my little guy but with the weather being as sour as it has we are both going a little stir crazy. I've kept play dates relatively minimal as I am worried about having to cancel a whole pile of plans if I go into labor. But when I don't make plans to get out of the house I get so bored and frustrated with this waiting game. 

The whole reason I felt inclined to blog about this was not to whine and bore you with trivial details of my last few weeks of pregnancy. It was more so to say to other mama's I feel your pain and this is totally normal to feel this way. I have come to realize that with pregnancy (much like with a lot of other exclusively female experiences such as menopause and periods) there is a ton of myth and stigma surrounding the topic. We are made to feel that because pregnancy is such a blessing and divine event that is is glorious and wonderful and feels fabulous for every woman. I don't think that we should always necessarily hold up this illusion. I do appreciate this gift from God but I can sincerely tell you I much prefer the prize at the end to the actual getting there. My friends often laugh or freeze in horror when I tell them fun little facts about my pregnancy. Probably shocked because they have never heard these things before. I think it is important we "keep it real" and be truthful about what we go through. Why? Because when we glamorize it and hide the facts about the real experience of pregnancy we isolate one another. We make each other feel like we are the only ones who feel this way or have these thoughts. What I mean is I don't enjoy pregnancy. But now that I just said that I feel apologetic, like I should take it back and sugar coat it and say its not so bad. As if I have broken woman code and am ruining the progress of Women's Rights leaders or something. But the truth is that doesn't make me a bad mother, it makes me human. It doesn't make me weak it just means that this is an experience that challenges me and forces me to find the positive in it. I wanted to write all this so that other woman can feel comfortable saying the same thing and not feel any less a Woman or Mother. 

Basically I will be singing praise when Baby arrives and I can: sleep on my tummy, see my own crotch, read a story to my son without losing my breath, enjoy my body all to myself, stop taking heartburn medication ahh the list goes on. Anyway power to you mama's out there. Hold on you are almost there. And if you need any cliched advice about waiting for babies arrival I'm sure you can turn to the nearest stranger in a supermarket and they will have it for you!